In recent years, various technologies have been implemented in a variety of anticounterfeit devices and processing systems. For example, one such device is embodied as a card to identify an assigned holder and is used to support financial transactions. Such cards may be processed and verified by a sensing system. Of course, in addition to financial applications, a host of other applications exist for such cards. With respect to the present invention, the significant consideration is that such cards (embodied as various devices) possess an anticounterfeit uniqueness characteristic which can be repeatedly sensed to verify the authenticity of the card.
Several different uniqueness characteristics have been employed in cards to verify authenticity. For example, magnetic materials have been incorporated in fibers of a card (see U. S. Pat. No. 4,218,674 Brosow et al.), radiation reflectors have been incorporated in cards (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,633 Bianco), and the inherent fibers of card material have been employed as a technique for identifying stock materials (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,415 Goldman).
Generally, in sensing the uniqueness characteristic of a card for verification, it is important that the card be repeatedly sensed at the same locations. That is, if a characteristic at specific locations of a card is to identify the card as authentic, it is important that the card be consistently observed at substantially the same locations. In that regard, various techniques have been proposed for locating predetermined areas of a card to perform consistent observations. Such defined areas of observation might be termed areas of perception, windows, fields or pixels.
The present invention is based on recognizing the importance of utilizing small areas of perception in the verification of anticounterfeit cards. That is, the present invention is based on recognizing that the predetermined discrete areas of observation on the card should be quite small to effectively avoid the ease of counterfeiting. Specifically, it has been determined that areas of observation should not exceed one sixty-forth square inch. Such relatively small areas of observation considerably increase the difficulty of successfully counterfeiting cards. However, other problems are introduced.
It has been previously proposed in relation to anticounterfeit cards, to locate predetermined areas of observation by indexing the card with signals recorded on a magnetic stripe. Such a technique is disclosed in the above-referenced patents to Goldman and Brosow. While such systems may be effective, a substantial difficulty is encountered in attempting to employ such techniques in systems defining small areas of perception. In general, the system of the present invention includes apparatus for sensing a magnetic stripe to index an anticounterfeit card so as to effectively locate predetermined areas of perception. Such observations from small areas of perception provide signals for comparison with a reference to verify the authenticity of a specific card. Note that the reference signals may also be stored by the magnetic stripe of the card.